1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to items for facilitating maintenance of over the road tractor trailers. More particularly, the invention comprises a device for releasing the locking pin holding the rear, tandem wheels of a trailer when the pin has become rusted or encrusted in place or between the tandem unit and the locking rail.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Over the road semi-trailers typically have a pair of tandem wheels, or bogies, which may be moved along a portion of the length of the trailer to adjust for load weight and distribution and, when practical, to reduce the wheel base of the trailer to facilitate easier turning. A pair of locking rails along the frame of the trailer contain a plurality of holes which receive a locking pin located in the tandem unit, allowing locking of the tandem unit in any desired position along the rails. Frequently, however, due to rust, a build up of road grime or simply binding between the tandem unit and the rails, the locking pins become stuck in the rails such that an extreme effort is required to release them.
A number of devices have been disclosed throughout the years to aid in the release of the locking pins and for relocation of the tandem unit along the rails.
A PIN RETRACTOR OPERATOR is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,322,091, issued to Joseph W. Lindley on Nov. 27,2001. Lindley's refractor is a portable tool.
Patrick L. Stanley, et al., disclose an ELECTRICALLY OPERATED SLIDER RELEASE in U.S. Pat. No. 5,716,071, issued on Feb. 10, 1998. Again, Stanley, et al., requires a permanent installation with an electric motor and related electrical wiring, whereas the present invention requires no installation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,480,171, issued on Jan. 2, 1996, to Dean C. Cheffey, discloses a SLIDER LOCKING MECHANISM which is a permanently installed element of the bogie, while the present invention is a removable tool for assisting in the disengagement of the locking pins.
A LOCKING SYSTEM FOR A SEMITRAILER SLIDING UNDERCARRIAGE, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,314, 201, issued to Larry W. Wessels, on May 24, 1994. The device of Wessels is, once again, an integral part of the bogie assembly, while the present invention is a tool for assisting in the release of frozen locking pins.
Clint McCombs discloses a PNEUMATICALLY OPERATED ADJUSTABLE SLIDING TRAILER SUPPORT, a bogie unit with a pneumatically operated locking system, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,232,234, issued on Aug. 3, 1993. By contrast, the present invention presents a tool for assisting in the release of rusted or encrusted locking pins of manually operated locking pin assemblies.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,199,732 issued to Herbert D. Lands, et al., on Apr. 6, 1993, presents an APPARATUS FOR UNLOCKING A BOGIE ON A TRACTOR-TRAILER RIG, a pneumatically operated system for disengaging the locking pins. Unlike the present invention, Lands requires retrofitting of the trailer with a mechanism which must be linked to the trailer's pneumatics system.
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed.